Struggling to Adapt: Lewis Hamilton Opens Up About Frustrations with F1’s New Generation Cars

‘Not How I Drive’ – What Lewis Hamilton Dislikes About Today's F1 Cars

Lewis Hamilton has expressed his difficulties in adjusting to the latest models of F1 vehicles.

Lewis Hamilton has described the difficulties he's faced in getting used to the latest F1 cars.

In anticipation of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, Mercedes acknowledged that Hamilton has struggled to excel under the new regulations implemented in 2022.

The seven-time world champion, who boasts an impressive 104 pole positions in F1, has only managed to secure the top spot in qualifying once over the past two-and-a-half years. However, he recently broke a 945-day victory drought by winning the British Grand Prix.

During a press conference on Friday, Andrew Shovlin, the trackside engineering director for Mercedes, mentioned that the latest model of the car does not align well with Hamilton's driving style. He also disclosed that Hamilton has been making adjustments to his driving techniques.

“These tyres are the issue,” Hamilton remarked regarding Shovlin’s statements. “For some reason, they don’t suit my driving style for a single lap.”

"I’ve been struggling with qualifying for some time now, and I’m continuously putting in effort to get better. Eventually, it will click; I just need to keep at it."

Hamilton expresses his frustration that the optimal method for handling the newest F1 cars contradicts his inherent driving technique.

"In my professional experience, I’ve generally not faced significant issues adjusting to the tyres. However, I believe the car type plays a more critical role," he remarked.

"The car is extremely sensitive. It’s more precarious than before and reacts poorly to late, deep braking and sharp cornering."

“You need to start braking sooner and gradually ease into the speed, which I really dislike. That’s just not my style of driving. I find it very annoying.”

In Hungary, Hamilton secured the fifth spot for Mercedes in the qualifying round, outperforming his teammate George Russell. This marked only the third instance this season where Russell faced an unexpected exit in Q1.

He mentioned that over the weekend, he had difficulties handling the car, especially due to the heat, which made it extremely challenging to achieve a stable balance without the car becoming unpredictable.

"The Red Bull and McLaren cars don't experience oversteer; they handle like they're on rails. For us, the heat exacerbates the issue."

"When we began the qualifying session in cooler conditions, our performance was significantly better. However, as the track dried up and temperatures rose, we faced difficulties."

He mentioned, “In my opinion, we might have been able to improve our time by a tenth or two if we had gone out a bit later."

“The course kept getting more difficult, but there was no way we could have matched what those people accomplished.”

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